Pizza Rustica - Guildford

Title says it all really :) Looks like a great place to dine in the courtyard when the weather improves

Pizza Rustica opened last weekend in the Ethel Street courtyard, just behind the Guildford Village Market row of shops along James Street. Only opening in the evenings – Thursday to Sunday at this stage – tables are set up in the courtyard, as well as inside the shop, with lights strung across the courtyard making for a pretty and inviting sight.BYO only – and water tumblers rather than wine glasses supplied – and a fairly large range of pizza choices – and they are happy to chop and change them to suit particular wants or needs (as you will note from our orders) – with a variety of sauces. (The only glitch was a lack of chilli and anchovy but we were assured this oversight will soon be fixed.)A balmy evening, flickering lights, a couple of bottles of Pinelli wine and delightful and amusing company (Lady FWO, Penny Lane and Faith Healer***) saw the FWO enjoying a pizza extravaganza on Sunday night.Three pizza were more than enough for the four of us – firstly a variation on the Grandé Papa – prawns, herbs and mozzarella – this was well cooked, the topping generous and the prawns juicy and sweet.The Portofino – requested without the listed prawns – but with the addition of black olives also impressed – the mix of ham, mushrooms, oregano and mozzarella was again on point.And finally, Quattro Stagioni – ham, mushrooms, artichokes, olives, herbs, and cheese. Another very good pizza pie. (And until Faith I had never seen a pizza eaten with a knife and fork – shades of George Costanza and the Snickers bar!)Pizza Rustica has added another string to the James Street dining bow – we enjoyed it a lot and we will be back again, and again….

Pizza Rustica opened last weekend in the Ethel Street courtyard, just behind the Guildford Village Market row of shops along James Street.

Terrible experience. My partner and I visited this restaurant around the 15th of December 2018, but I am only writing this review now (a month later) because a negative post about their pizza went viral on Facebook this week. After receiving many suggestions to check them out on Google, we decided to share our experience. It was a busy night, and we were promised our two sweet and savory pizzas would be ready in 30 minutes. We ended up waiting for 1 hour and 10 minutes instead of the promised 30 minutes. When we inquired about the delay, the staff member seemed nonchalant about the situation. Eventually, he brought out the pizzas, but one was not prepared to our specifications as we had requested a vegetarian option. When I brought this to his attention, he asked if I was strict about meat. After he almost lost his patience with me, he offered to make a new pizza for an additional $20. Frustrated and hungry, we reluctantly agreed. The replacement pizza was delivered in 3 minutes and was uninspiring. We decided to pay the bill, leave hungry, and forget about this disastrous date night. The staff member even had the audacity to act like he was doing us a favor by not making us wait for the additional pizza. This type of behavior is unacceptable and reflects poorly on the establishment.

This restaurant would have received a 5-star review if it weren't for the recent issues I've experienced when trying to place an order. The pizzas are always fresh, crispy, and topped with beautiful ingredients, but the last few times I called, there was either a long wait or they were unable to take my order due to other problems.